


Demonic behaviour makes you good?

by xKeruto



Category: Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Clay | Dream & Technoblade Friendship (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream Angst (Video Blogging RPF), Demons, Dream Team SMP Angst (Video Blogging RPF), Dreamon, Endersmile, Enemies to Friends, Friends to Enemies, Gen, Ghost Clay | Dream (Video Blogging RPF), Healing, Hybrids, Minecraft, Snowchester, god I suck at tags, similar to manhunts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-12 23:15:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 11,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28893504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xKeruto/pseuds/xKeruto
Summary: After his ultimate defeat, Dream has been left alone in the prison Sam built originally for Tommy. After spending multiple weeks alone, with barely any food or water, he finally has enough and escapes through a hole, that he discovered on his first day in his cell. Hurrying for away from his demise, Dream finds himself hidden away under an enemy's home, until he passes away from the long term damages of the prison.But his story doesn't end. Instead, it turns out for the worse and Dream and his "friends" head out on a journey to rediscover a dangerous book, that could satisfy many different interests on the server he himself created.Will Dream be the one to find it, or will he be beaten to it?
Comments: 46
Kudos: 370





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hiya,  
> I'm actually a little bit scared to post this, since this is my first ever published work on a platform like this. I've been writing before, but it's a little bit overwhelming to dive right back into it, especially since I've actually planned this out, which is rare for me. 
> 
> Also, this is about their online personas, not the real people behind the characters.
> 
> Reuploading this to Wattpad or so is not allowed, the content creators may see this, since there's no shipping or such involved. If they somehow are uncomfortable with this anyways, please let me know and I'll take it down immediately!
> 
> Until then, have fun reading, I'd love to get some feedback!

It wasn’t like he was a good person. Instead, Dream himself called his own persona awful. Manipulative, evil. He was the villain in everyone’s story with a goal in front of his eyes. That made it unsurprising, when Tommy and Tubbo confronted him, backed by everyone else. Even Punz and Sapnap stood behind their once-enemies. Tommy’s blue eyes were glowing with glory and energy as he charged forward, pushing Dream further and further into the corner in the only safe space he built. The dark room’s black walls suddenly felt like they were towering above Dream. He felt the panic rise in him as his back collided with the black stone, pressing the air out of his lungs. Suddenly, the salty taste filled his mouth and the blood followed soon after. At this point everyone knew: The once invincible Dream had been defeated. His usually tall stature had fallen down in itself as he kneeled in the corner, body shaking and his green hoodie ripped apart, leaving him with nothing but his black turtleneck shirt beneath it. His armour had been long gone; Tommy demanded it from the young man after everyone arrived. Logically, Dream thought, that was it. They had nothing to be afraid of, but he was wrong. It was Sam’s voice, who startled him and shook him out of the panic state he had fallen in. “Why don’t we put him in a place, where he can do no harm and yet stay alive? I wouldn’t want to know, what would happen to this world, when Dream dies.” Hums of agreement flooded through the lines of everyone, all their gazes fixed on Dream. What happened after that, happened way too quickly. Sam and Bad forced Dream back on his legs, holding him up as his legs gave in, Sapnap stayed on their side as the guard, in case Dream somehow had a backup plan. And just like that, they were gone.

It took Dream a good while to realise where he was, but the familiar black stones in front of him made it clear. The cold atmosphere would have given the last kick anyways – The Prison. The unescapable prison that HE commissioned from Sam, that he wanted to be built for Tommy, to keep toying with the boy who caused all the trouble. Oh, how it backfired. Out of safety reasons, as Sam said, Bad and Sapnap had to stay outside, while the older tightened his grip around Dream’s wrist. It felt awful, almost as if he was about to crush it. With a quiet snarl pressed out against gritted teeth, Dream tried to shift in Sam’s grip to get at least a little bit more comfortable, but it was easily denied, as they walked along the slightly lit hallways. The light sources were torches, small ones, that Dream himself had put in place. He remembered how he and Sam were chuckling, talking about the good old times when the two of them built the community house together and started fishing on the wooden paths Dream himself constructed and placed them around the rather small house at that time. The red bricks warmed under the sunlight and Dream had trusted Sam enough to place the porcelain mask down, that hid his frowning and covered it with a stupidly drawn smile. They’ve laughed together. Eventually Sapnap and George moved in with them and slowly but surely, more and more people followed. Dream smiled under his mask as he remembered their screams and laughter of joy when he fished for a nametag and caught a boot instead. Those times were definitely over now, especially now, that the warmth from the memory was gone and the lingering cold crept up to his fingers. By now, Sam had reached the cell and placed Dream on the bed, only then removing the ropes around his wrists. “I’m sorry, man. But now you’re self from your own, self-destructive tendencies. Maybe you can heal.” Dream gave a nod; his throat was too sore to talk anyways. Sam understood and finally locked the cell, only giving Dream one last glance over his shoulder before the coldness and darkness both swallowed him and left Dream alone.

But it wasn’t sadness that he felt, instead, he was pretty happy to be here. His goal had finally been achieved. He created the ultimate family, peace and happiness could settle in. He, the villain, was beaten and gone, though he still questioned why Sam kept him alive. All he had ever done, was to pay money to build more war tools, like the prison or when he asked Sam for help to literally destroy L’manberg once and for all. Now that Dream was alone, he could rethink where he went wrong. Where he had been turned into the final villain, that people glare after, that people mumble about, the one person, who people fear. To admit it, Dream barely remembered his actions and what had caused everything to go downhill this quickly. Maybe this cell will help him remember. Maybe he should have asked Ranboo for help when it comes to memory, but then again, the boy kept a book and Dream wasn’t allowed to have anything. Examining the cell, he noticed that there was a hole in the wall. It wasn’t big, probably way too small for someone to fit through, but it was there. Perhaps one day he would grow tired of this cell and try to escape, but for now, the area was just fine. The walls were tall, small symbols and similar carvings were part of Dream’s examination. His fingers traced along the lines, trying to figure out, what they were and what they meant. He smiled slightly. It felt all so familiar, now that he was at peace and he could finally feel the final product of the hard work he and Sam had put into this. The largest wall was the one, that had the most functions. It kept the cell door and at the same time it had the use to sometimes drop down some food, but probably only enough to keep him alive, not strong. And he didn’t he want to be strong. All he wanted now, was some rest for a little while.

Until he had enough.


	2. Retreat and Defeat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOOO the angst is slowly rising, one more chapter for it to settle down

It’s been a few months now. Slowly but surely Dream felt death creep closer with each day passing. Sam had visited him once or twice and shared the stories of the SMP. The Community House has been rebuilt, L’Manberg remained gone, but its memory has been captured in Eret’s museum. Dream gave a weak smile at the cheerful news, nodding slowly. By now, his throat had become too sore to speak without inflicting pain to himself, so he remained silenced. But that silence was mischievous. In fact, when Sam would leave, Dream could turn to the hole he had seen on his first day. By now, it had been opened and Dream used his body to hide it from Sam. The older man took no notice, as he kept on rambling about the outside world. Apparently, Ranboo left Techno and Phil, Tommy left Snowchester to live closer to Wilbur’s grave and the memories of the country he built on his own, with his past friends. Once again, the only reply Dream gave was a nod.

The time in the prison had its toll on his body. Dream lost weight, his dirty-blonde hair had grown longer, that bits of it fell in his face and the mask was stained with dried blood and dust from when Dream would lay around for a whole new day, no goal in mind, except survival. But even that seemed to fade a few times. Some days he would think about just giving in to the treatment, let the walls crumble upon him and endure the pain until it’s finally over, but some other days he would fight himself up and work on the hole. Thinking of it, it eventually became a routine. Dream’s thoughts drowned out the talking of Sam, only when the darkness fell upon him again, he looked back up. Alone. His signal word.

And that damn hole was tight. Dream hummed amused. It felt weird, having those thoughts roll through his head, now that he was so short before tasting freedom. It turns out that Sam must have missed placing a whole row of stones, since it was an easy push through to the freedom. Cobwebs and all that aside, the journey out of his cell felt refreshing. Dream was able to move his body freely again, even if he was a wanted man. Dead or alive, probably dead though. Sadly, he wasn’t able to recall what he did all those months ago, even though everyone framed the chaos on him.

Chaos.

That word seemed familiar, but in a way, that a cold shiver ran down Dream’s spine. Quickly, he shook his head, took a few more cobwebs onto his mask and pushed the final stone away, the fresh air seeming unfamiliar and the light blinding his eyes. Quickly the porcelain mask covered his face again and it made the disgustingly bright light just a little bit more bearable. He was free. Genuinely free. No longer locked up behind black walls with spiders as the only living creatures visiting him on a daily basis. A growl erupted from his throat and he shook his head, finally jumping out and shrugging. He forgot that water was around the prison and hell, it was cold. Usually Dream had no issue with the cold water. He was used to swim through it whenever Sapnap, George, Bad and he did those stupid games of cat and mouse, where he was trying to reach a certain place and they did everything to prevent him from getting there. Manhunts, he believes they were called, but he can’t quite recall, why or when they did it. Probably just for fun, they were quite the energetic group and everyone in the server laughed when Dream ran over the wooden paths he built, followed by three others frantically waving their weapons and yelling at their target to surrender. Comforted by those memories, Dream ran away from the cold walls, which were everything, but definitely not comforting. His legs took him away from the open plains in which L’Manberg, through a forest with tall, dark trees towering above him. Compared to them, Dream felt small, his position of being the hunted following him through the shadows. The trees ached when the breeze brushed past them, their needles raining down, if the wind became too strong and the tree too dry. For all Dream knew, he had to get past these trees to reach another open place. A place, in which the weather had settled down once and for all in nothing but snow, coldness and ice. A place, that reminded him of the prison, but he needed to hide there. No one was probably smart enough to settle down in a place, in which monsters, that could split you open with painfully enchanted arrows, roamed at night. Thinking about it, it wasn’t a place he would ever go to on his own, but maybe this is exactly the right place to be, when you’re on the run for life and death.

The journey was harsh. The snow started falling down before Dream reached the open fields, the temperatures dropped below zero. Wearing a “slightly” ripped apart, bright lime green sweater that barely covered his stomach anymore probably wasn’t the best idea, but if his plans worked out, then there should be no reason to worry about the cold and clothes anymore. And then it finally was in sight. It wasn’t a large structure, instead a small wooden house on a stone foundation. But the stones weren’t black, they were light grey and the white walls surrounded by strong, dark spruce woods gave it an all-familiar feeling Dream wasn’t sure he could feel. But it must have been something he used to know, despite never setting a foot in this land before. Maybe his memory was toying with him again.  
With heavy steps, the blonde pushed forward, the snow making it extremely hard to continue running. His lungs were burning and his legs felt like jelly, but he couldn’t stop, not now. He was still away from his actual goal, the place, that lied underneath the gorgeous little house. It was a hand-made basement for someone who had long ran away, leaving behind the perfect space for Dream to crawl into and hide. And hiding was the key to survival, to his survival – Without food or water.

What Dream didn’t know: Sam had returned with two people on his side. One being his long lost and loved enemy – Technoblade – and an expert when it comes to survival by not following the three-life-rule Dream had established when he created the SMP – Philza. Sam froze in place, Techno narrowed his eyes and Philza scratched over his chin, mockingly turning his attention to Sam. “What was it with your prison being unescapable?” Neither of them waited for a reply, they knew Sam was shaken up by the disappearance of the most feared being on the whole SMP, instead, they turned around and left, heading back home. Techno growled and his left hand twitched with excitement.

“What do you say Phil. Shall we look for him?”

“Yes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, I hope you enjoyed this and I'd love to hear your opinions on the story in the comments.+
> 
> Also, thank you so much for all the Kudos and Bookmarks after just one day of publishing ;-; It means the whole world to me, especially because I thought, it would remain unknown to many! So again, thank you so so much!!
> 
> Maybe today will be a double upload, I don't know yet :))


	3. Life’s Betrayal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double update here we go! I'm still super motivated for this fanfiction and I really hope you guys are as well! 
> 
> Thank you so much for all the bookmarks, kudos and comments, they mean so much to me and it makes me very happy, that people actually like the stuff I'm writing :D

Of course, things wouldn’t turn out in the way Dream would have liked them too.

A few months prior, someone had told him, that he was the one to send Tommy into exile, although he can’t really imagine himself doing that. He and Tommy always were friends, right? Sure, they kept on stealing the discs from each other, but that was about it. It was a game for them, all under friendly circumstances. So, why would he be the one to doom his friend and chase him away from his safe space at home? It didn’t make any sense to Dream.

But “thanks” to that exile, he had found shelter. Tommy’s old room right below the little house he discovered. Apparently, he ran away from Dream, hid himself with… someone and then fought back. Trying to remember who was the one who kept the boy secret caused nothing more but a headache and Dream quickly shook his head, leaping down into the little space underground and covering the entrance he discovered. This was his home now. Dream sighed quietly and sat down on an old bed, the old wood aching under his weight and the dust on the sheets causing him to sneeze. It felt worse, sounded louder than it was. It was fine. He was fine. Until Dream’s felt a sting in his stomach. Only then did he realise, how exhausted, thirsty and hungry he really was. Carefully, he moved one hand up to his face and shoved the porcelain mask to the side, taking a good look at the little room that would now work as his home.

The bed apparently was covered in yellow sheets, but they haven’t been taken care of, so the colour was fading and the white pillow had seen its brightest days a long time ago. The wood used to look strong, but all that was left of it, was a weak pile of dark brown and dark greenish substances that were just solid enough to hold the person sitting or laying on top of it. Shifting his gaze away from the bed, he saw two wooden chests in a corner, one of them being open and sadly empty, apart from a few cobwebs inside. Dream doubted, the second one looked any better, it was probably worse. Much like the bed, the wood of the chests had fallen from grace, moss growing all over it. It was a little bit pretty, but he wouldn’t dare to touch it. Someone, or some animals and insects, might live there now. This is their home and he wouldn’t want to destroy it on accident by ruining what they’ve built in the time no one had even come down here. Once again, he turned his attention away from that one object he had analysed and stared at what seemed to be like a bell at some day. How strange, why would the owner of this pit even put such an annoying object down here, leaving it forgotten anyways? Is this what Dream felt like? Once beautiful, full of bright colours and elegance in his strides, now nothing more than a small figure moving in the shadows, on their own and without anyone on their side? 

Probably.

The chests caught his attention again and with a heavy groan, Dream forced his body to sit up, then move forward to kneel down in front of the wooden box. Now he was glad that he kept the gloves. They might be fingerless and definitely had seen better days, but he wouldn’t want to touch the rotting wood with his bare hand. Carefully, he opened the chest.

And regret replaced any curiosity.

Not only was the chest empty, but the smell erupting from its inside was enough to push Dream on the verge of throwing up, which he luckily didn’t do. His body probably couldn’t handle it anyways, and he was always just so incredibly tired. Maybe all he needed, was a good night’s sleep on the bed, or at least in a comfortable position. Slowly Dream shifted himself into a laying position, slightly curled up to get a little bit warmth from his own body to not cool down too much over the night. But after sleeping on cold stones for a few months, one more night surely wouldn’t make that much of a difference, right? 

Oh, how wrong he was.

During that night, two people rediscovered the area under their home. Two people exchanged unsure looks and climbed down to the pit that once kept their family member safe from the exact same person, they’d seen jump into the place as well. Neither of them knew what to think when they reached the bottom. Well, at least one thing was certain. Dream was there.

Or more his body.

Dream, or more the ghost version, hovered above himself, curiously trying to wake himself up from a sleep, that would never be interrupted ever again. His white mask throned on his head like it was part of him, only pushed to the side so his face was visible. His dirty blonde hair had lost a bit of its saturation and glow, much likes the once emerald green eyes. His clothes remained the same, but like hair and eyes – desaturated. The green hoodie still had the cuts and holes from the time in his prison, his black turtle neck shirt below the hoodie still was ripped in certain areas. Dream’s black pants had holes ripped in them before, the man liked them. But the thing standing out the most:

A demon like tail and small horns.

The first one to make a noise was Phil. After even realising, who was literally floating in front of them, he cleared his throat and took a few steps forward to Dream, smiling. “Well, we were looking for you.” The ghost gasped and shot up against the ‘ceiling’ of the pit, shrugging a little bit before collecting himself again. The two standing in front of him were none other than Technoblade and Philza, two somewhat allies of his, if Sam told him the truth. Techno’s vibrant eyes shot through him like daggers, making Dream feel like nothing but a small child that got caught after trying to steal cookies from the cookie jar. Phil on the other hand was calm. Again, he took a step closer to the startled one and offered him a hand. “Dream, we’re not here to harm you. In fact, we were going to get you out of the prison, more or less legally, weren’t we, Techno?” A hum was the answer and Dream tried to relax a little bit. The situation was already awkward enough. All he wanted was to sleep a little bit before getting up and organising himself food and water, but he must have forgotten how long he had actually gone without any of the two most necessary things to him. After taking a minute or two, he remembered, that Sam’s machines had actually misfunctioned and he had only been given a slight amount of water, barely enough to survive for more than three days. And now he paid the price, he didn’t know he had to pay. Panic started to boil within himself once more and Dream jerked his hand away from Phil, noting that the other grimaced slightly hurt at that. “W-what do you mean? Techno, I never said you should bust me out of there!” His voice was shaking, his body trembling. But he was a ghost. He couldn’t die twice. Again, the other one hummed, but also spoke up. Techno’s deep and raspy voice awakened something in Dream and the upcoming panic attack was pushed back down. “Yeah, we know. But I needed you. And there’s still that favour that I want to get rid of, it’s slowly bothering me.” – “What favour again?” Phil and Techno froze. Dream didn’t remember blowing up L’Manberg, but everything else, from what they’ve noticed? In fact, this went smoothly with what Sam had told them.

Dream’s memory wasn’t damaged, he recalled everyone he had an interaction with and he asked about things like Niki’s bakery and Eret’s progress on the castle, although it had been completed a long time ago. After digging a little bit deeper, Sam revealed, that Dream had changed drastically from one day to another and he had a suspicion, that Fundy’s and Tubbo’s “exorcism” was responsible for this chaos.

Dream may have been physically in places, but his mind had been possessed by a force much stronger than him. And that force should remain in the prison, but not Dream, who had done nothing wrong in this sense.

And thus, Techno and Phil were called in.


	4. Healing with an old Army

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 3 pOOOOOG
> 
> This is most likely the most chaotic and happiest chapter in the whole fanfiction, depending on how well I can recreate some of the characters from the smp-

Living with Dream’s ghost turned out to be harder than Phil and Techno thought it was at first. Ghostbur was pretty alright to be around, the ghost of the once insane man had settled in nicely and tried to cheer everyone with his blue stones that he got from lord knows where. Some rumours say, that Dream was the one who gave it to them, but the now ghost couldn’t remember doing so. But Ghostbur and Dream weren’t just different when it comes to their personalities as dead people. When they were alive, both did awful things, like blowing up a nation, inflicting serious mental pain to the people around them and so on. The biggest difference was their memory. While Ghostbur remembered the good and happy things in his life, Dream remembered everything. Even the things his alive-self didn’t know he had done. And just like Alive-Dream, he was one for chaos.

“Dream, put that sword down! You know it’s dangerous to play with them”, Phil screeched as he watched Techno battle Dream for a Netherite sword, the demon-like ghost’s tail flicking from left to right as he tried to grab the handle and yank it out of Techno’s firm grip. The Piglin hybrid snorted amused, thanks to Phil’s distraction he could pull the sword back and put it where Dream had originally snatched it from – a dark brown chest hidden behind the burgundy curtain. Not that it was worth hiding, since the ghost had already discovered it, but it was safer in that chest than in way too curious hands. Especially because Alive-Dream knew how to use that sword and since he remembered everything, Ghost-Dream would know as well. 

Startled by Phil’s shouting, Dream bolted away from Techno and crossed his arms, snorting annoyed. “Oh, come on now, Phil. I wasn’t going to hurt anyone, I just wanted to… do something.” That something was causing chaos. He enjoyed the chaos, at least jokingly, especially since he now remembered everything he had done. He, personally, as it seems.

Remembering was painful and, shortly after discovering that his body wasn’t just a simple illusion and Dream had indeed lost his last life, the process lasted long. He fought in a brutal war, burning the area around L’Manberg together with Sapnap. He stole Tommy’s disks and hid them away in a vault he discovered after searching for nothing and yet everything. He didn’t know at that time what he was searching for, but an unknown force drove him forward until he discovered the large area surrounded by black, cold stones and apparently a stone, that was unbreakable, and Dream had tried everything. Going from his pickaxe, over to TNT and even trying to use complicated machines, that required the rare Redstone dust to work properly. It had all failed. Accepting his defeat, Dream kept looking around in this vault and discovered the scariest part about it all – an area where things were waiting to be placed. Things, that meant a lot to people. The worst thing being, Dream himself was there. His body moved closer, subconsciously stretching out his arm and touching the mirror. That’s when it all went black, even in his memory. The next thing this memory had to offer him, was him waking up in the community house, hurt and hungry. When he was alive, he simply shrugged it off and continued with his life. What no one knew at this point, is that Dream had been left in the vault and a new entity replaced him, a name that had corrupted the lands.

Nightmare.

Dream shared this memory with Phil and Techno, scared of their reactions, but well aware, that they had to know, since the boy was living with them and he would do anything to be able to stay. They were allies, even if it meant blowing up a nation for the second time. Luckily, neither seemed angry, or if they were, they knew how to hide it. After this, he started acting like a child.

Phil groaned annoyed as he once again pulled the ghost back by his tail. “Stop. No more touching that sword.” Dream mimicked the groan but nodded, even though he kept a pout on his lips. Since Phil and Techno were trustworthy, he kept his mask pushed to the side of the head. He had nothing to hide from them anyways, they knew him better than he thought he knew himself. Techno even admitted he already had a suspicion of Dream’s possessed being, since his old friend hadn’t been the same ever since they’ve first met. Relief flooded through Dream at that moment and he knew he could start to act how he personally wanted to act around them – Like a child, almost. And the three had all agreed, as long as nothing was breaking, burning or exploding, it was fine. But didn’t that mean, Dream could take the sword and let out some of his energy outside? Suddenly an idea ran through his head and the pout was replaced by a smug grin. “Heyy, Techno!” – “Hm?” Monotone as always. Quickly, Dream pulled his tail out of Phil’s hand and hovered over to the Piglin hybrid, his feet not needing to touch the wooden floor anymore. At first, it felt weird to do so, but by now Dream had gotten used to nothing touching anything unless he really wanted to. And flying was a lot faster than simply walking everywhere. He hummed amused and stopped in front of his old friend, mischievously glancing up into the crimson red eyes. “You know, there’s still a favour, right?” Phil’s loud and annoyed groan made him wheeze. It was a noise that he hadn’t done before he came here, in fact, he hadn’t laughed ever since he was left in the vault and Nightmare took over him. But Techno understood and crossed his arms, shifting a little bit away from his demon-like ghost friend. “Yes, and you want to use it to cause chaos, don’t you?” Dream yelped happily and nodded, his emerald green eyes regaining a little bit of their saturation, like they always do when he is confronted with things he enjoys doing.

The first time this happened was when Phil had offered Dream to stay with them. He wasn’t sure at first whether or not to accept, but after Techno stepped in to convince him, Dream followed. It was only a slight bit of colour, but it was something. The second time they regained colour was when Dream found a stray kitten and managed to sneak it into his room. Phil was the one to discover it and immediately confronted Dream, since there was only one person to love cats. Alive-Dream used to squeal whenever he saw kittens and tried to adopt every single one, so that one, strange cat had to belong to him. But it was hard to resist when Dream’s eyes once again flashed up in a bright emerald green as he held the cat’s body close to his own, gently scratching her eyes – And like this Patches joined the family. With her being around, Dream calmed down a little bit. He’d spent the evening in front of the fireplace, holding her little body close to his chest and listening to her quiet purring whenever he scratched behind her ears.

So, they were used to his eyes indicating how excited Dream was, and thus Techno nodded. “What do you want to do then, Dream?” The ghost’s grin grew wider and he whispered his plan in Techno’s ear, since Phil most likely would tell them to stop right this instant.

Dream remembered the dogs Techno brought in the final fight for L’Manberg. He remembered being amazed by their number and how eager they followed their owner into the battle. He remembered how they jumped Sapnap, who fought against Dream and Techno, for a reason that Dream still cannot explain to himself just yet, but maybe he could figure it out. One day, for sure. But back to the dogs. As eager as they were to defend their owner, their numbers decreased and only a few managed to escape the chaos Dream, Techno and Phil had caused. Some got killed by blades of others, a few got blown up and some just went missing. Dream noticed that Techno was sad, but of course the Hybrid would keep quiet about it and play it off like they didn’t matter. So, suggesting to re-establish the hound army hit a spark in Techno, that Dream very much enjoyed. He agreed immediately and Phil frantically waved his arms around, saying things like “They need to rethink this”, or “You can’t just breed hundreds of dogs again only to pull some stupid jokes”, but they all knew; Techno and Dream were going to do it anyways and they would do it very, very soon. Actually, they had darted off before Phil even thought about physically trying to stop them. 

Accompanied by Dream’s wheezing and Techno’s hums the two darted off to where the surviving dogs were kept. Other than Ghostbur, Dream had no issues with snow or rain, probably due to Nightmare being in charge of Dream’s body when he died. This made running away from Phil a lot easier and they used that chance without a little bit of hesitation.

After all, both had a little thing to pick with Tommy.

Joking or not, re-establishing the hound army formed a bond between Techno and Dream. Their friendly rivalship slowly turned into a friendship, as neither of the two had ever betrayed the other. Not even Nightmare dared to betray Techno and that meant a lot. Tommy on the other hand, had betrayed them both. And Dream had the idea, to use to the dogs to annoy the living hell out of Tommy. And Techno, being friend and enemy at the same time, jumped onto that idea immediately.

And to their surprise, Phil joined their fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all the support over the past two days! It means so much to me and pushes my motivation up high into the clouds. Writing this fanfiction has been so much fun and I'm super excited to show you the evil things I have planned, hehe


	5. Old habits

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hellooo!
> 
> I'm so sorry for not uploading yesterday, something happened that sadly had the priority. But I'm back for now! I might as well pre-write some of the chapters from now on, since it's so much easier to have something prepared instead of writing it 45 minutes before uploading it, even though the excercise is extremely calming and super relieving to do :))
> 
> Until then, enjoy the chapter!!

It was at this point, that Dream started changing.

Phil was the most important part of their plan to annoy the living hell out of Tommy. He was the only one, who, despite everything, still seemed like a trustworthy person. He may have been the one to set a few withers, extremely dangerous creatures with explosive tendencies, free on L’Manberg, but somehow his fatherlike figure still comforted everyone around him.

Following the plan for a few weeks, the hound army regained numbers, the wolves patiently listening to Techno’s gentle but firm training. They picked up the simplest signals and followed his voice around in the hidden area, once again covered by stones. Dream curled his tail around his ankle and released a breath he didn’t know he was holding. Perhaps trauma, or just fear of being locked up again made it extremely hard for him to remain calm underground or just surrounded by stone in general. Techno and Phil knew, and both felt sorry for their ghostly friend. Ghostbur never had issues like this, in fact, he liked being surrounded by anything, really. It kept the rain away from him, that hurt him to a point where his body would melt away. It was like acid to him. But Dream didn’t have these issues. In fact, he was almost the same as his alive being. He remembered everything clearly now, he had a thing for chaos and the smile plastered onto the porcelain mask sometimes was the same like the one on his lips, whenever Phil cracked a joke or Techno fantasised about Tommy’s reaction to their little plan.

One foggy morning, Phil walked around the remains of L’Manberg, a crater to be exact, and found the person he was looking for. Even hearing would have been enough. Tommy was known for being obnoxiously loud. And as always, he wore a red and white T-shirt, the one that Phil himself made for Tommy on his 16th birthday. A smile flew over his lips, the shirt must mean a lot to the boy. 

“Hey, Tommy!”

The blonde jumped up at the sound of the familiar voice and leapt right to Phil.

“Philza!”

Their bodies collided in an awkward hug, Phil wrapping his arms around Tommy, laughing happily at the overall energy he spread around his surroundings. Tommy’s bright blue eyes no longer had signs of the abuse he went through under the alive version of Dream, or, as Dream revealed, Nightmare. His eyes reflected his energy and the mischief that bubbled within himself. Similar to this version of Dream. Phil particularly didn’t like calling the boy a ghost, since he clearly wasn’t just a ghost. He passed away, yes, but he didn’t look like Ghostbur and he didn’t behave like him at all either. It was strange, really.

But this is what Phil needed. Tommy trusted him. And he needed that trust to get him closer to the “trap” that Dream and Techno set up in this very minute. The two found a cave with lots of different little paths leading away from the centre and rebuilt a proper entrance to enter their little trap. Dream was the one who constructed it, since he wasn’t bound to any physical law such as gravity. It was easy to simply hand him the materials and watch his slick movements as he slithered around the entrance and perfected it to a point, where the unnatural seemed natural again. Techno admitted, that the ghost was more talented than he had anticipated at first. While Dream was busy figuring out how to hide the dogs in the most efficient way, Techno waited for Phil to return with Tommy, so he could hide and let the dogs run loose. All that effort to please one certain little ghost.

Neither of them had to wait much longer. The first indicator of the needed duo to arrive was Tommy’s loud voice. Then Phil’s failed tries to keep the younger one under control. Their voices echoed through the cell and Dream looked up, quickly putting the mask back over his face. The porcelain covered his eyes and his nose, but left his mouth uncovered, so he could still show emotions through his mouth. Under his mask, Dream narrowed his eyes and sat down in the middle. He could hear Phil loud and clear now, his voice quiet and calm as always. It meant that they were close.

“Tommy, you can already go down there. I’ll follow in a second.”

“Alright, Big man!”

Dream smirked. A few seconds later, Tommy came into his view. The blonde boy tensed immediately when seeing the ghost sitting in the middle of the cave. The sun ran over his dirty blonde hair and the mask smiled at Tommy, the younger one tensing even more. From what both remembered, their ways didn’t part in a friendly way. In fact, Dream still remembered cowering in a corner, covering his head with his arms only to be spared, since he could revive Wilbur. He was kept alive, because he had a use to Tommy, just like the axe he held in his hand and the armour he stole from Dream a few minutes before. Tommy had even visited the older one in prison once, only to make fun of him again and fuel the anger that had rested within Dream at that moment, but it calmed down, when the regular visits stopped and Dream finally stopped seeing the burden in his eyes. 

He didn’t like Tommy and thus he filled Techno in on his real plan. Phil still thought the dogs would only playfully attack, but Dream wanted revenge. He wanted to see pain on Tommy’s face, but not that he dies. Only a little bit of pain. But he underestimated the dogs and their bites, their strength they held within their slim bodies.

“Hello, Tommy.”

Dream rose up from his place and flicked angrily with his tail, grinning wide under the mask. He was a little grateful that his eyes were hidden now, since they filled with tears. It wasn’t sadness though. Tommy was to blame for his being in prison, his death to overdo it even. 

“Dream?”

The confrontation began.

Dream snickered and jumped over to Tommy, circling the child and grinned wide, crossing both arms around Tommy’s shoulders. The boy tensed visibly and tried to shuffle away from the ghost surrounding him. But said ghost didn’t back away, he followed Tommy’s every step, making it seem like a dance in the middle of a cave. 

“Say, Tommy. Do you ever remember everything we’ve been through? Everything we’ve done together? All the fun evenings we had, only to continue joking around when the next day came?”

The answer was a slow nod. Dream could tell that Tommy was unsure of the whole situation and he’d probably be too. After all, the last thing everyone heard of Dream was his escape from prison and the hunt that followed. No one, except Phil and Techno knew about his whereabouts and him passing away. A weird satisfaction filled him and he once again circled the boy.

“Do you regret what you’ve done to us?”

This caused Tommy to jerk away from Dream and he snapped. 

“Dream, you’re a bastard! You’ve caused all of this chaos. You blew up L’Manberg, you deserved being in prison?"

“Did I deserve death?”

Silence. Exactly what Dream thought. He pressed a snarl out of his mouth and turned away from Tommy, towards the direction in which Techno was hiding with the dogs.

“Release the hounds, Techno.”

Dream didn’t wait much longer for a reply and instead jumped up on a high stone, crossing his arms and watching Tommy try to somehow fight off the dogs. The blood splattered over the stones that caused Dream nothing but fear and death. The satisfaction grew. But to his dissatisfaction, Phil ran down the cave after hearing an ear-piercing scream. The dogs had tasted blood and they wanted more, too much, so even Techno tried to stop them. Dream? He didn’t move. He watched Tommy’s body fall down, Phil shielding his son with his wings and Techno yelling something. Then the yelling turned towards Dream.

“Leave immediately. We were wrong to think that you’ve changed.”

But all that Dream did, was smile through the pain as he left the two behind, who took care of him. And his search for a new home began.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ohhhh, Dream got exiled, take the L
> 
> On a more serious note, I had some issues writing this chapter and I don't really like how it turned out, but I can finally move to the part I'm the most excited for. No more Techno, Tommy and Phil for a little bit :D


	6. Refuge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's for Grackercracker, thank you for staying up with me until 2am to get this babyboy done and ramble about how we've met through the worst fandom we could have gotten ourselves into - [REDACTED]!! :D
> 
> BUT
> 
> I'm happy to be updating again, school's been kicking my ass and I needed to get some stuff done for my job training to become a nurse in aprox. 3 years :] 
> 
> I might get back to uploading daily, but I don't know yet, it really depends on how the situation around me decides to shove me around and whether or not I decide to spend a good amount of time gaslighting my friend in minecraft to get their discs into my enderchest /j (love you)
> 
> ANYWAYS
> 
> Enjoy today's update!

His journey took him far past places Dream knew.

The snow was the only thing he recognised during his travels. With bitter thoughts he thought back to where he went wrong. Flashes of unsureness and hesitation in Techno’s movements once Dream revealed his true plan of intentionally hurting Tommy to a point where one single step would kill the younger one. The thought of it satisfied Dream and his tail twitched in excitement. Just one second later, he shuddered in disgust and slapped himself. The sound was loud, too loud for his own liking and he once again sank down in himself. During the day, his travels were without any danger. The only thing that could possibly harm the ghost, or perhaps even demon now, was an ambush by Techno or Phil, but Dream was certain, that they were left behind in the cave with a bleeding Tommy, a dying Tommy.

During the attack, Dream found himself laughing at the sight of the teeth sinking down in human flesh, crimson blood tainting the blunt stones. The only lightsource was the weak morning sun, the light ironically falling down on the ghost in the middle of the whole chaos – the creator of the chaos. 

The few trees around Dream couldn’t shield him body from the freezing winds of the arctic area in which he was hiding away. The positive thing about freezing was, that the falling snow covered every little footstep he would leave behind, if he decided to stop floating. But even ghosts can’t float forever, they’re exhausted at some points.

And this exhaustion slowly crept up in Dream’s body, numbing his arms and legs the further he fought himself away from the safe place in Phil’s warm arms, curled up in Techno’s large cape that he’d sometimes lend the boy so his anxiety calmed down, right after Dream continued to find his memories again. 

Grass. 

He wanted that patch of grass.

Person.

There was a person.

The next thing Dream remembered when he reopened his eyes, was warmth. It was incredibly warm, but he didn’t mind. Weakly, he tried to shift his bodyweight into a sitting position, but the blanket laying around him felt heavy, as heavy as metal resting on his shoulder. With a huff, he gave up for now and let himself get buried in the pillows and blankets all around him.

Human.

He’s alive.

But a ghost?

The second time Dream woke up, he realised he wasn’t alone. In fact, a pair of eyes was watching him, cautiously and curiously. Red and Green. Both of them froze in their positions. Until a scream ripped at Dream’s throat and he struggled to get away, emerald eyes widening at the sight of the human...? Enderman...? Person in front of him. Said person flinched at the sudden movement and… teleported away? Confusion marked Dream’s face as he calmed down at the disappearance of apparently the one who had rescued him from the cold. And somehow, the person seemed familiar, but it was yet another hole in Dream’s memories that needed to be filled at some point. The blonde shook his head and tried to put some weight on his legs, flinching when it obviously didn’t work.

Frostbite had numbed his body for an unknown amount of time. 

He moved.

He’s alive.

It’s Dream.

The purple spirals returned in the corner of Dream’s eyes and he weakly lifted his head from below the pillow. Instead of being faced with a scared expression, he saw a comforting smile. Something in this smile seemed oddly familiar and the ghost returned a shaky smile. The apparent Enderman reached out a hand and sat down. Hesitantly, Dream took it and floated out of the bed, his tail lazily hanging down, even though he does want to wag it in excitement of meeting a new person.

Taking a closer look at the person in front of him, Dream noticed that they weren’t a full Enderman. Instead, they were something else. And their eyes were green. The boy remembered reading about times, in which Enderman roamed around the unclaimed lands of the ancient civilisations. These Enderman had green eyes, that could determine each little movement a hundred miles away. Eyes, that were able to freeze a person in their position as they’ve unhinged their jaw to launch their single attack to get rid of the intruder. These Enderman valued privacy, so why had this Half-Enderman taken him in?

The said boy must have noticed the confusion and hummed amused, wagging his own tail.

He had a tail.

They both had tails, but one was alive and the other wasn’t.

Dream couldn’t help but squeal in excitement, his eyes flashing up in the bright emerald green that the Hybrid was used to.

Hesitantly, their hands met and both of them smiled stupidly wide at each other.

“Welcome to my little place!”

Even the voice of the stranger seemed familiar and Dream tried his best to remember until a voice inside of his head ripped him out of the painful process of remembering.

“H-hi, Ranboo…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ranbooooooooo time
> 
> Ma favourite boy has been added and will climb up to the spot of the "Main character's therapy pet" :]]
> 
> Next part will probs be longer again, I really wanted to get this one done, since I've been so excited to finally add Ranboo to this story. Totally not biased because he's my comfort streamer, no no. I would never do that, nooo
> 
> A N Y W A Y S
> 
> Let me know what you think about this chapter in the comments etc, you know the drill
> 
> Thank you guys so much for all the bookmarks, hits and comments, I legit almost teared up when I saw how many of you are interested in this literal 3am project I've started randomly writing in school
> 
> Love you guys, stay safe and enjoy your reading! <3


	7. Confessions and Forgiveness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No more daily updates, but I do try to update once a twice a week, pog.
> 
> THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!! This work has hit almost 30 (!!!) bookmarks, 260+ Kudos and don't even get me started on the 3300+ Hits!  
> I'm just absolutely speechless. When I tell you I've never expected this 3am idea to blow up, I mean it! I thought max. reach I could get out this was maybe. Just maaaybe 50 Kudos, but here we are-
> 
> Thank you once again for the support, I really hope you enjoy this rather fluffy chapter, since it's one of the last ones, hehe.

It had been a little over two weeks since Ranboo and Dream had met officially.  
Due to the frostbite, the ghost constantly slipped in and out of consciousness until finally waking up completely approximately two days ago. But that also meant, that the Enderman was aware of what Dream did and why he was running in the forest during one of the coldest seasons out here in the arctic tundra. Luckily, the forest had shielded Dream just a little bit. Even though the latter was a ghost, it still meant that there are certain things that could eventually finish him off completely. Ghostbur would melt in rain, Schlatt’s ghost wasn’t even found and now Dream’s reacted extremely sensitive to the cold. It was a strange world to be living, or not living, in, but somehow, they’ve all adapted. But that only added up to the surprise of Dream struggling to move his body through the very thing that could kill him one and for all.

Slowly, Dream moved a hand up to his forehead and gently stroked over it, making sure to feel that he’s still “alive” and going. Relief filled him when his fingers touched the porcelain of the mask, giving him yet another support in this strange environment. Yet, that support was ripped away when he heard the chirping noise of an Enderman. Quickly, he threw his body up against the wall and stared right into the pair of eyes that he had seen when he woke up for the second time and he forcefully remembered where his journey away from Techno and Phil had led him – Right to Ranboo.

It wouldn’t even be that bad if only the memories had remained locked away far in Dream’s mind. He knew what he did to the boy and his gut twisted at the words and actions he indirectly took against the boy’s mental health. Well, technically it was Nightmare who had done this, but the guilt in Dream’s gut was stronger than his common sense and he slowly lowered his head. Frankly speaking, he wasn’t sure what he should expect. A blade pressed against his throat, cutting it open slowly for Dream to die a slow death? Poisoning? A hound army to have their teeth rip into his skin and tear him to shreds in front of everyone’s eyes he hurt?

The hand on his shoulder definitely wasn’t on the list. Startled by the sudden touch, Dream flinched and his gaze locked with Ranboo’s again. Instead of anger or hate, the same smile from a few days ago met his own, pretty much confused face and the happy chirping was accompanied by a little tail wag, which honestly looked quite hilarious. And it was enough to crack a smile in Dream’s face.

Following the next days, the routine was simple. The duo barely talked; they didn’t need to. Ranboo sometimes was awake before Dream was, other times it was the other way around. But they didn’t need words. A simple touch of their tails when walking past each other meant enough. A simple smile given by the ghost to the Enderman hybrid, a shy smile returned as a break from their very own, various tasks. A gesture that only those two were able to understand.

Dream was recovering, Ranboo was healing. 

But both knew a thing that they thought the other didn’t.

Tommy and his physical and mental state.

Dream drowned in guilt, thinking he killed the boy once and for all, which he never wanted. Fairly honest, he liked the boy. He did cause lots of trouble, he did make stupid decisions and he did put Dream in prison, causing his death over the long term. But he never wished for Tommy to be dead.

Ranboo had heard the news after he went to see his old friend Tubbo, who left Snowchester occasionally to meet up with the Enderman hybrid. After a seemingly permanent team-up with Techno and Phil, an ambush had happened, in which Tommy got injured, but not in a critical way. He recovered within two days. During those two days, Dream went missing and got found by someone, who was on the run on his own. 

With a sigh, the Enderman pushed his fair share of the garden’s work over to Dream’s and gently tapped on the other’s wrist with his tail. Their sign for saying “My part is done”. The collected wheat remained sitting on a small bench, drying from the night’s rain so it could be used for baking the bread and even some cake, which Ranboo enjoyed a lot. Two taps returned from Dream, followed by a shy smile. His sign for saying “Me too”. Slowly, the two of them got up and Ranboo picked up the basket with fruits Dream had laid into it, bringing it inside and putting it down on a small, dark oak table that was definitely created by his own hands. It was chipped at some point and slight cracks marked the legs, but in Dream’s opinion, the table looked great. 

The duo was accompanied by three cats and one dog, and the regularly passing Endermen, that scared the hell out of Dream at first, though he got used to them and eventually picked up their language to have a small talk with them. Carefully, the ghost knelt down in front of a pure black cat with wide and curious yellow eyes. A soft smile hushed over his lips as he stretched out his hand to carefully stroke over her head, then the shoulders only to continue scratching gently behind her ears. It made him happy. 

“Her name is Enderchest.”, came the muffled voice of Ranboo from the other side of the room. Surprised, Dream leapt into the air, afraid to have done something wrong, but the soft smile Ranboo showed him calmed him down again.

“I didn’t know she had a name, maybe I should have asked.”

Both chuckled at this and the Enderman hybrid gestured his ghostly friend over to his side. 

“There’s something you need to know. I’ve heard your cries at night, seen the panic in your eyes and it hurts to see the once oh so great Dream breaking apart in my own house.”

Emotions laid heavy in Ranboo’s voice. He understood Dream. And he also peaked the ghost’s curiosity.

“What do you mean?”

“We’re both on the run, Dream. You and me have done something we feel extremely guilty about and we ran away instead of facing the consequences.”

He was right and so Dream pulled his knees close. Once again, he thought back to the terrified look on Tommy’s face, the pure fear in his eyes as his skin paled. It made him feel sick, so he just gave a simple nod to show Ranboo, that he understood and that he knew what this was about. It was a confrontation and soon, for sure, Dream would have to leave.  
But he didn’t expect the following.

“Tommy is alive and well, Dream. He’s looking for you, just like Techno and Phil are, but their intentions are bad, and Tommy’s? Well. They’re of course not that bad, but also not entirely good. But! Before you think about running away… Please don’t. You’re safe with me.”

Safe.

Dream was safe.

Ranboo would protect him, and he would do anything he can to protect Ranboo.

It was only then, that Dream noticed he started crying when a ‘plop’ broke the silence in the room, followed by a few more ‘plops’. Before either could react, Dream threw himself forward into Ranboo’s arms, hiding his face in the shoulders of the younger, but definitely taller one. And Ranboo wrapped his arms around him.

This wasn’t the Dream that had tried to manipulate him, even partly succeeded in doing so. This Dream was scared of the judgement of others and guilt was his daily companion. 

Maybe they weren’t all too different.

Maybe this could be a friendship.

A long overdue friendship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ranboo and Dream friendship?  
> Ranboo and Dream friendship.
> 
> I just think these two would have an amazing dynamic together, if it weren't for DSMP!Dream being the villain, sad.
> 
> ANYWAYS, I really want to interact with some of you, so if you do happen to have twitter, you can follow me there. Most of the times (and when I post) I post my own art and I do plan on doing some art for this Fanfiction as well, so if you want to check it out, you can find me under:  
> @xKeruto
> 
> I'm always open for DM's and a nice chat! <3
> 
> Until I update again, stay healthy and safe and make sure to eat and drink enough, love you all!


	8. Second confrontation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I speedran this chapter with while "wasting" my precious time with the TEOT discord. I love you guys <33
> 
> Talking about TEOT, they've been a huge inspiration for my own writing, so you'd do me a giant favour if you could go and check it out. It's an amazing fic with an interesting plot and who knows what the future holds for this one.  
> So, please go and read it!  
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/27265549
> 
> Enjoy this bomb of floof that evolves quickly into angst :))))

By time passing, Ranboo and Dream grew closer to each other, sitting in comfortable silence during the evening while Ranboo ate and Dream watched the fire eating away the freshly chopped wood that he had gathered during the day. It was exactly enough for one last evening together in their little house, now built for two. 

The wind outside made the wood groan under the pressure, its howls ripping through the silence of the forest. The leaves fell uncontrollably and from time to time, the wood gave in a small to large pieces were sent flying down to the snowy ground. Birds screeched loudly at this, using their gift of feathers and wings to throw themselves into the safety of the sky, escaping into a world only known to them. Not even the snowstorm could stop them from starting their journey to a new place which they deemed as comfortable enough to settle down.

Just like the birds, two others would start a journey during the safety of the night and the storm raging around them. The Enderman hybrid and the ghost demon did one last check-up, going through everything they’ve stuffed in old, leather bags; Food, water, warm clothes. A gift. For someone Dream didn’t want to meet a first.

After Ranboo had mentioned, that they were starting a journey to an area not so far away from their current residence, Dream had panicked. He remembered the name clearly, even though he was in prison at that time. Tommy, as impulsive as he was, couldn’t keep his mouth shut and spilled information about a land called “Snowchester”. Tubbo. Tommy’s best friend that Dream. No, not Dream. That Nightmare threatened to kill shortly before he was thrown into the prison which ultimately meant death. Remembering this made Dream shudder and he wrapped his eyes tighter around his body. At this point he had gained enough trust to let his emotions slide even when he was around Ranboo. With a reassuring smile and a soft touch to the ghost’s shoulder, Ranboo gave him his silent support, only nodding and letting go when Dream returned the friendly gesture. It was their way of talking. 

Now that their self-doubt was out of the way, they flicked their tails at each other and Dream carefully opened the wooden door that would ultimately mean leaving their past weeks behind and discover something familiar, but still new. It felt good to leave, not alone, but with a friend, and only after Dream made sure that the Enderman was behind him, they started heading Northwest. 

After about 25 minutes, the silence become uncomfortable and Dream started to get bored of just walking, picking some flowers and diving head first into the snow, causing a light-hearted laugh from behind him. With a sheepish grin he popped back out of the whole he created and returned to Ranboo’s side, wheezing slightly at his own, completely irrelevant and yet ridiculous actions. This went on for the whole time.

Only when the forest opened up a little and the breeze carried the salty smell of sea, both travellers returned to their comfortable silence after exchanging a glance. Snowchester was nearby now.   
To be fair, Dream silently was proud of Tubbo for running away from the darkest era in his life and rebuilding it in an area far away, with people he deemed as trustworthy and called them friends. Occasionally, others, like Tommy or Ranboo, were allowed to visit frequently and how often they desired. Snowchester was a small tradesmen town, the houses built from materials they’ve gathered after marking their borders and clearing this particular area to start an actual life. And judging by how close the still standing trees had grown to each other, they had a lot stored up in chests somewhere hidden in those houses. 

Carefully, Dream let his gaze fly over the area Ranboo had led him to. It seemed peculiarly familiar, but that probably was just his imagination and long-lost memories of a childhood he won’t relive, apart from never living again anyways. Yet he couldn’t help himself and wagged his tail like a puppy would, his emerald green eyes lightning up with excitement and joy of finally seeing some other people.

Don’t get him wrong, he loved Ranboo dearly and he was thankful for the Hybrid to take him in and start a friendship with the very same person that had caused him pain and trauma like none other had, but he missed being around people he loved as well. And Dream knew that. That’s why he agreed to follow anyways. And now that they were here and he could already hear Tubbo’s cheerful yelling and welcoming shouts, there was nothing else that he wanted. Dream basically craved to listen to someone, hearing them laugh at stupid jokes and yet being serious when they had to be. 

This sheer hope had shattered in front of his eyes when Tubbo ran up to them, closely followed by none other than Tommy.

Time froze.

Silence.

Uncomfortable silence.

Sky blue eyes staring deep into once dull and now bright emerald eyes.

Dream and Tommy united.

A sharp gulp ripped through Dream’s throat and in this very moment he wished he didn’t return as a ghost and instead stayed in the comforting coldness of the void. 

Tommy’s eyes narrowed and the ghost couldn’t quite tell what the other was thinking. All he saw that his eyes had flared up with a hatred he once had within himself. It was scary.

Ranboo and Tubbo both shifted uncomfortably in their positions and slowly inched closer to each other until their whispers filled the area around the rivals. It was Tubbo who spoke up.

“Well, now you’ve already seen each other and the surprise is gone.”

It took no longer than five seconds for Dream to break down into a wheezing tea kettle and Tommy to start yelling at his friend ‘what the fuck Dream is doing here and he wasn’t invited and he didn’t know he was still alive and he was worried’.

Wait.

Dream choked.

Tommy was worried?

With a loud groan the younger boy ran a hand through his bright blonde hair. 

“Yes, Dream. I was worried. Techno and Phil weren’t really happy to see that you ran away again. You know, those dogs were a nice surprise and they were supper cuddly!”

Cuddly? Dream swore he heard Tommy’s screams of pain; he swore he heard the dogs rip at his skin. Was it an imagination? Did it all just not happen? 

Then it went black. Guess Ghosts do pass out.

The faint noises woke Dream up eventually and carefully he opened his eyes. Ranboo was around him, so were Tommy and Tubbo. Oh great, they all saw him black out in front of them. With a huff he fought his body into a sitting position and only then started to understand what they were saying.

“-he doesn’t hold the full responsibility, Tommy!”  
Tubbo.

“That guy is mental! Have you seen the way he glared at me?! Dude, not cool!”  
Tommy. Was this about him?

“Please, calm down. What if you wake Dream up?”  
Ranboo. He seemed unsure.

“He’s out cold, Ranboo”  
Tubbo again, but it wasn’t cold. It held a certain sympathy in its ways.

“Still, someone could have died. He needs to pay for what he did.”  
Tommy. This definitely was about Dream. He couldn’t keep quiet any longer, but his voice was nothing than a whisper. A whisper loud enough to interrupt the three friends that settled down on chairs in the middle of a small house, a white fox curled up around Tubbo’s feet and three cups of tea steaming on a wooden table in the middle of the room. All their eyes locked onto Dream as he spoke.

“Didn’t I pay already..?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAAAAAAAAand its done.
> 
> God, the support I've received on this work is absolutely incredible and whenever I check, I feel my heart warming up. I honestly feel like I don't deserve all the support you guys have given me and I'm so so so happy you enjoy what you've stumbled upon.
> 
> Again, updates may vary due to school, but remember:  
> I love you guys! Stay safe, make sure to eat, drink and sleep enough and treat yourself with something you've always wanted to get. I love and appreciate every single one of you and if I could, I'd probably hug you all. <3
> 
> Love,  
> Keru!


	9. Misunderstandings and spilled secrets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)

“Wait what? You thought I was dead?”

Hesitantly, Dream nodded and watched Tommy stomp his foot down on the wooden floor, the same floor that made an awfully loud groan at that action, Tubbo’s fox, which apparently was called Squeaks, well, he squeaked and then made some annoyed noises at the blonde boy. Tommy was furious and Dream definitely understood that. It’s not happening everyday that the same person who tortured him to the point of almost-suicide sits in front of you, a demon-like tail wagging from one side to another while a white fox is more interesting than anything Tommy has ever said in the whole day. Even Tubbo was more interesting and Dream couldn’t help himself but tickle the brunette when he sat too close to his tail. It caused Tommy to get even more furious while Dream wheezed and Ranboo and Tubbo had the most fun they’ve had in a long time. To be fair, it was slightly relieving to laugh a little bit, given their situation.

Dream had just poured his memories of the event onto the table, leaving everyone, but especially Tommy in shock for a few minutes before it all went downhill. 

Now there were two main goals. 

Hide from Techno and Phil and continue fixing Dream’s memories.

One proved itself to be harder than the other, as always. Things never would come the easy way, would it now. One was dangerous, the other lead right into the unknown.  
“Tell us Dream, what exactly is going on within your head.”

And after lots of explaining later, three teenagers were scrambled around the ghost of a dead man, yelling in a friendly matter and trying to show their support. Only one of them remained hesitant, for a good reason.

Tommy still didn’t trust Dream. He had done just way too much to hurt the young boy, from ripping his discs out of his hands, threatening to kill Tubbo over them. This doesn’t make sense. Why would Tubbo be the one to also jump around the ghost just casually floating in the middle of the room, unsurely swishing left and right with that ridiculous tail he had gotten from god knows where. He, Dream? Gream? Ghostdream? Anyways, he made no sense to Tommy at all. For him, that man had done too much to be forgiven just because he was dead. For one, Tommy himself could be dead as well. What would they do if he was the ghost floating above that stupid white fox? Would they react in the same way, laughing at his stupid jokes and watching how he was able to touch and not-touch certain things?

No, definitely not.

So, why did they forgive Dream? Sure, his memory was messed up, he was actually acting kind and so far, he didn’t seem to be a threat, in fact, he seemed like a good guy. But he wasn’t! That was the issue. Dream was the bad guy. He always would be, even in death.

Tommy denied his thoughts that Dream didn’t deserve death.

Ranboo just smiled at his friend.

Tubbo laughed with an old friend.

And Dream?

He was happy. Happy to be around people that he used to know, in a good way. Happy to be forgiven and happy to have been accepted into their lines.

It felt good.

:)

There still was explaining left to do and with an exhausted sigh, Dream let his body fall onto a chair that Tubbo quickly got for him from a room he hadn’t even noticed. He also hadn’t failed to notice that they all took some seriously interested glances in the direction of his freshly addition – the tail. To get his cocky act all ready again, he provocatively swished it closer into Tubbo’s directions, every time the ghost caught him staring again, earning a chuckle from the Enderman hybrid on his left side. Tommy was another number that caught Dream’s eyes. Mistrust, perhaps even hate. It truly hurt.  
Dream heard, that Nightmare called Tommy his best friend, a forced friendship, but they thought of each other as friends. A one-sided friendship. Nightmare clung to Tommy while the younger tried to rip away. It was obvious that his actions would lead to the prison over and over again. 

:)

Knowledge truly hurts, doesn’t it, Dream.

:)

Wouldn’t you do anything to protect these children?

Smile for them.

Don’t feed them the lies, once you are alone again, you can return.

:)

“Dream?”

Ranboo’s shy and quiet voice startled Dream as he shot into a straight position on the chair, widening his eyes slowly, yet calming down after realising where he was. A quick reassuring nod was given and the ghost fixed his posture, taking a deep breath.

“I’m okay. And I feel like you all have some questions you might want to have answered, right?”

The response was a synced ‘yes!’ mixed with the protesting squeak of Tubbo’s fox and a happy Enderman chirp that escaped Ranboo’s throat. Now, sure of their interest, Dream sighed and closed his eyes again, letting a short moment of silence drown him before he opened his mouth after taking yet another deep breath.

“As I said, I wasn’t myself and, well. I’m still not. At least I regained my consciousness and can be myself. No more faked, happy families.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiii!  
> I'm so sorry for not updating in almost two weeks, I just drowned in school work and this chapter was more or less a filler to somehow clear up certain emotions the characters hold. Oh, and those long spaces are supposed to be there.
> 
> Dream isn't free, is he?
> 
> Thank you all so much for the love and support on this fic! I feel like I say those words every time I update, but it just warms my heart to see how well this 3 am outline is doing now that I'm actually writing it... Yeahhh. Adding on to that, I don't know how many more chapters this will have, I still have two major plot points we need to cover, which I want to write in detail about, especially because this chapter is rather short and I feel bad for keeping it this short. :(   
> Sadly I need to have things written as they are right now and I can't clear up the cryptic things I keep on writing and throwing into all of your faces.  
> At the same time, I'm not sorry. :)
> 
> As always, I love you guys, stay safe and healthy and I'll see you guys very, very soon
> 
> :)

**Author's Note:**

> Ohhh boy, prologue done. I'll see when I get the rest done, I might update this daily or once in a week, depending on how school treats me!


End file.
